What a weekend for Big Ten Football.

So this weekend is going to be a fun one in the Big Ten. We have a lot of key match ups and I’m going to go over a couple of them and describe why it will be key for each team to pull out a win.

1) Lets start with my boys in West Lafayette, the boilers. Purdue is coming off a loss and needs to rebound if they still want a shot at another bowl game. They will be playing Michigan State, which has had a so-so season. They are now 5-5 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten conference play. So they are playing for pride now. They probably won't make a bowl game and they won't for sure if they lose this weekend. So both teams have to win this weekend to keep that bowl appearance alive. The prediction on this one would have to be Purdue 27, Michigan State 17.

2) Ok so we have the Michigan Wolverines going to the Badgers home in Wisconsin to play another a big game. Michigan once again is at the top of the Big Ten with the Buckeyes, so they must win if they want a chance to play Ohio State, next weekend for the Big Ten title. If they do lose this weekend it’s almost a given that the Buckeyes will repeat as the Big Ten title winners. The Badgers need the win for a respectable Bowl appearance, plus this being the Badgers last home game the seniors should have something to prove by not letting the Wolverines come into their stadium and beat them. I'm thinking the score on this one is going to be a close one and I’m thinking the Badgers will come up with the upset and win 24 to 21.

3) The last match, which could be the biggest of this weekend, would have to be the Ohio State and Illinois game. Ohio State has so much on this game its unreal. They have not only the Big Ten title on the line, but they also have their shot at the National title on this game as well. They have to win out the rest of their games if they want to have a shot at the National title and Illinois is going to be the one to stop that chance. Illinois needs this win because if they do they would now have a shot at sharing the Big Ten title with Michigan and Ohio State. Now it would be slim that this would happen but if everything feel into place they could achieve the title, but first they would have to beat Ohio State. My prediction on this game would have to be Ohio State, 35, Illinois 21.

Colts vs Chargers

Like I have said all year, LT cannot be stopped, only contained. This week San Diego Chargers face the Indianapolis Colts. To be honest, the Colts have a great defense although LT is really a tough runner to stop. He threatens the Colts in more than just one aspect because if they clog up the middle, LT could run around the edges, although if they spread the LB's then he could run straight up the gut. I think the Colts do have enough talent on defense to overpower LT if they can read the play right.
Other than LT, the Chargers have Antonio Gates, which is a hell of a player, although the Colts offense when Marvin is playing is unstoppable. The Chargers were thought of being one of the top five teams in the NFL until they lost to Minnesota although if they beat the Colts they will be back in the race. As everyone knows, the Colts did lose last week which you can look at two ways. Either one, they will throw in the towel and give up on the season, or two, they will be pissed off and out for blood. This is easy to explain which one they will be! With Quarterback Peyton Manning, you know he is going to fire everyone up and make sure they are all on the right page to pull off the win. Every team has hiccup's like the Colts did last week but as long as they can get those out, I think they will be just fine against the Chargers. I see this game being close towards the beginning, but then Peyton will blow the game open.

Instant Explosive

Throughout the NFL you will find a team with a guy who could just take a game over by himself. No, I'm not talking about a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning. I'm talking about a guy who with him and no one else can turn the course of a game around by himself. Guys to the likes of the Bears' Devin Hester, who's game changing kick returns have kept them and won the Bears many games in his early career. Another is Adrian Peterson who seems to make plays by himself either running over people or running through a potential tackler. On the defensive side of the ball you have a guy like Bob Sanders who can, at times, seem like he is everywhere on the defensive side of the ball.

Devin Hester has been a star since he came into the league out of Miami U. He has nine touchdowns in only two years, eight of those coming from his specialty: Returning the football. Some one has joked before that it is ill advised to give Hester a present because he will probably just return it. The guy is a game breaker plain and simple.

Adrian Peterson is another one of those young guys in the league that have made an instant impact. His last game says it all. Just a rookie he broke the single game rushing record with 296 yards against a Charger defense. He made the Chargers look stupid with his breaking of tackles and just pure speed to beat defenders to the end zone. He looks to be on his way to being one of the best RB's ever. Many would argue he is the top RB in the league right now, AS A ROOKIE!

Bob Sanders the only defensive game breaker I have listed can take over a game. His endless game changing plays have turned the 'mo' back to the Colts favor in many games. In only his fourth season he has already racked up 149 solo tackles and three INT's. Another joke I have heard is that "75% of the world is covered by water, the rest is covered by Bob Sanders."

Comical yet true.

The End is Starting to Shape Up

It is officially the half way point of the NFL. The end has come in a less fuzzy view as many teams have shown enough for us to get a clear view of what kind of team they really are. Teams like the Patriots and Colts have shown they are the elite of the elite. A close loss definitely does not count out the Colts from this category as many would argue their loss this past weekend was a late game melt down.

After the two of the elite of the elite there are teams that can both win and lose any given Sunday. Don't get me wrong though these teams know how to win. Dallas and Green Bay rise to the top of this particular category as they have shown week after week that they are both very good at covering up for their flaws. The Steelers, another among this category, showed their muscle on Monday night by obliterating the Ravens on a dingy night Pittsburgh. After the upper echelon of this category leaves a few others in the playoff hunt toward the end of the season.

First the New York Giants. They have maybe the best defensive front in the league with both big name players in Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan with two less known individuals on the rise in Notre Dame grad Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka. In addition to this solid Defensive front is a very balanced offensive attack starring QB Eli Manning, RB Brandon Jacobs, and WR Plaxico Burress. The Detroit Lions have also made some noise as I highlighted in an earlier post. Read that and you should be able to find out a good idea of the great things going on in Mo-town. The upstart Tennessee Titans are the final of the 6-2 teams in the league. They have a franchise quarterback in Vince Young that has led them both through his athletic ability and leadership skills. One thing that many people have learned from the Titans is that Lendale White is a prime time running back. His numbers are comparable to those of Reggie Bush.White has 613 rushing yards on the season with 5 TD's to Reggie's 434 yards rushing and 5 overall TD's.

The other teams that look to make some noise come playoff time are the surprising Cleveland Browns, the Jags, the Saints, Redskins, and Bucs. But as we have learned thus far in the college football season, football can provide many upsets and who knows who will have a shot at the championship come late January.

Still number two!!!

I heard one of my buddies today who is a big Bronco's fan that the Colts should be dropped in the rankings because of their loss to the Patriot's on Sunday. That is ridiculous! How could a team that was undefeated coming into the game, all of the sudden drop in ranking because of a late game break down. The Patriot's did not deserve to win that game on Sunday after the poor performance from Brady throwing two interception's and many penalties against them, although I guess the sun shines on a dogs ass too. Also, if you watched the game at you, it is easy to see that since Harrison did not play, it was a lot easier for the Patriot's defense. They stopped the Colts many times because they could concentrate more on Wayne, Gonzalez, and Clark rather than having to put multiple defenders on Harrison. When Harrison heals up and comes off the injured list, I think the game would change drastically. Patriot's really did not impress me on Sunday, although they did get the win. As a Colt fan, we will let them have the win because post-season will be a different story.

The seasons not over yet

So the colts aren't 8-0, it's not so bad. They still lead the AFC south and they still have a promising look on the rest of the season. One of the big reasons why they lost yesterday was the lack of depth that the colts had in their receivers. Addai ended up taking the blunt of the offense on his shoulders, were he went for 112 yards on the ground and another 114 yards receiving. Thanks for the shoulders Joe. The Colts didn't have Marvin Harrison in the game and this really does limit the amount of talent they have on the field. What I mean by this is that with Marvin out of the game Reggie Wayne is now the primary receiver. Wayne's good, but I don't think he is good enough yet to be the primary receiver. Also with Harrison’s absences the Colts now have to rely more on the rookie Gonzalez, and the slot receiver Clark, to come up and be a reliable receivers. Another reason why the Colts didn't win was it seemed as though Peyton was never comfortable the whole game. I mean yea he had his shinning moments, but for the majority of the game he seemed uneasy. Again a big factor of that would have to be the absences of Harrison. Without Harrison on the field the Patriots could play more of a zone defense and didn't really have to key on more then one person. Were if they did have Harrison they would have to worry about not only Harrison but also Wayne.

But like I said in the beginning it's not the end of the world. The colts will still make the playoffs. They will make it to the AFC championship game. The only bad thing is now they probably won't get home field advantage if they end up playing the Pats for the AFC championship. So Colts fans have no fear, still believe in your Colts, just this time around the Colts will have to disappoint the Patriots fans at New England.

Fantasy Football?

Ok so another post about a thing that pisses me off. Fantasy Football, I know all of you are wondering why in the hell would i not like Fantasy Football. You all are saying its just a fun thing to do or it keeps me intested in the other football teams. Now thats alright i guess but the thing that gets me upset with it is that it has completely changed how people have watched the game of football. It has changed the way fans haved watched football because they no longer root for a team. They root for players, and not just players on one team. No, No, they root for certain players on different teams. Again you might be wondering why this is so bad, i feel that you should root for a team. Football is a huge team sport and should never be a single player sport. Now you do have your star athletes that tend to put themselves apart from others, but all in all its a team sport. So when you have people that only care about if one person on the team does well, it really does go against the team aspect of football.

Another reason i don't enjoy fantasy football is that when i did try it for the one year, i found myself not only cheering for the players and not the team. I also found myself at times hoping that a certain player would play well against my favorite team, just so i could get fantasy points. That was actually one of the huge reasons i don't "play" fantasy football any more. Now i could just be blowing smoke out of my behind but fantasy football has changed the ways fans have viewed the game and in a negative way.